General Labor Professionals needed throughout our area. Meador Staffing is looking for individuals from of all experience levels for various warehouse and other general labor positions. Background and experience may include sit down or stand up forklift or cherry picker, working with machinery including automotive machines, shipping and receiving, mechanical assembly and experience with small hand tools such as pliers and screw drivers. Qualified candidates may have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Experience with inventory and accurate warehouse order pulling is desirable. Must have at least 6 months experience in a warehouse environment and be able to stand and bend for long periods of time. Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds and be available for overtime hours depending on business volume. All candidates must provide their own steel toed boots to be considered. Position pays $10 to $11 per hour depending on prior experience. According to Indeed.com the salary is competitive for similar jobs in the area.

Houston based company is looking for an experienced Plant Controller. The right candidate must have at least seven years of experience in heavy cost accounting, financial analysis, financial accounting and auditing. We are looking for creative problem solving skills and extreme organization.

The Plant Controller will handle all aspects of the financials for a busy plant and be responsible for supervising the Plant Accountant and Accounts Payable Clerk. Qualified candidates must have experience in manufacturing environments and be comfortable with analyzing monthly closings, perpetual inventory, journal entries, and plant cost summaries. Will be responsible for monthly and yearly forecasts and will provide weekly tracking to the Plant Manager.

Candidates must have at least a Bachelor’s in Accounting. A CPA is preferred. Must have strong computer skills, be very organized, and be able to communicate effectively both in writing and in person. Pay range starts at $85,000 which is similar to other positions in manufacturing environments in the area according to Salary.com.

Is it a trick question or do they want you to answer honestly? How exactly do you know how to answer when an interviewer asks about your greatest weakness? Do you need to tell them how bad you are at something or can you spin a positive attribute into a negative one? Here are some tips for navigating the muddy waters of the weakness questions.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Interviewers can tell if you’re making something up on the spot. It can result in a less than positive interaction. Think about this question long and hard before you ever make it to the interview; you will likely be asked some form of it. Think of a way to answer this question that is thoughtful and provides some real insight into you as a person and a candidate for their position.

Avoid the key requirements. Whatever you do, don’t answer this question with something that specifically contradicts the core requirements of the job itself. Prepare for the interview by understanding the company and the job description. If you know the position involves entering information into a customer website and incorrect data can result in significant revenue loss; don’t tell the interviewer that you have trouble paying attention to details.

Challenge, action, result. Professional career coaches recommend using this approach to answer this question. Determine what the most challenging part of your example is, the action you took to correct it, and the positive outcome of the overall situation. Most interviewers don’t like the “turning a positive into a negative” answer to this question because it inevitably sounds fake, but this answer format still provides valuable information about your weakness but ends with a positive result. It gets you to the same place.

Don’t recite cliché answers. Recruiters hear things all the time like “I’m a perfectionist.” This answer doesn’t provide any concrete information it is just regurgitating things that we know are negative. If you really feel as though your perfectionism is your biggest weaknesses consider rewording your answer. You could tell them that you have trouble giving up control of projects because you want to make sure every detail is perfect. Remember to provide an action and a positive result. Tell them that you seek out other members of the team with strong skills and learn to rely on their expertise.

Welcome to our newest addition, Ryan Meador. Ryan joined Meador as our Corporate Wellness Director. He’s finishing his BS in Fitness & Human Performance. He has also received his Level 1 CrossFit Certification, and coaches in Deer Park at CrossFit Deer Park. Read his interview here!

Q: First off, welcome to the team! Have you always wanted to work for Meador Staffing?

A: I haven’t always wanted to work for Meador Staffing. I was never interested in having a 9-5 desk job, but when you find a place where you can do what you’re passionate about, then there’s something special there.

Q: How are you personally committed to demonstrating a healthy lifestyle for Meador employees?

A: I try to practice what I preach. I’m not perfect, though. I have moments of weakness just like everyone else when it comes to food. I just want to try & show people that you’re happier when you’re healthy. It makes a significant difference in everyday life.

Q: Which upcoming wellness program are you most excited for?

A: We are still only beginning the analysis process of the programing. I have several ideas up my sleeve that I’m excited for, but I don’t want to share them just yet. I think it’s hilarious that everyone thinks I’m going to be going through what they bring to work to eat. Meador employees have nothing to be afraid of; this is going to be an awesome & entertaining journey for everyone.

Q: What is Meador’s top wellness initiative for 2013? How are you going to help Meador get there?

A: Meador’s top initiative is to get all of our employees feeling the best they’ve ever felt. If we are healthier, we can do greater things because we have the drive, focus & physical capabilities to succeed in the areas where we sometimes fail. By pin-pointing our problem areas, I’m going to try to put together several incentive programs based on the data we’ve gone over that should target these problem areas, all while fine tuning the rest of this already well-oiled machine.

Q: What are some healthy lifestyle tips that fans can incorporate into their everyday work routine?

A: Healthy Tips: Don’t start off the day with a Monster energy drink & a pastry. You’re setting yourself up for weight-gain. Instead, have some sort of protein, a slow-digesting carb (fruit) & some “good”, monounsaturated fats (avocados, almonds, cashews, etc.). This will release a lot less insulin, resulting in those calories being used for energy & not being stored. Another good tip would be to move around throughout the day. Sitting at a desk hour after hour is detrimental to the body. Something fun to do would be every 30 minutes or even every hour, get up & do some stretches, or better yet, do some sort of exercise: pushups, sit ups, squats, etc.

Q: Each year, eat healthy & exercise regularly top New Year’s Resolution lists. Do you have any tips to help those stay true to their goals throughout the year?

A: The best thing you can do when starting a new exercise or diet plan is keep track of what you’re eating & how you’re feeling through a diary or some sort of food/exercise log. This helps you be able to see the problem areas that you normally wouldn’t. I’ve been surprised on numerous occasions when I thought a certain meal was only so many calories & it turns out that it took up half of my intake for the entire day! There are numerous websites out there that will track every little detail of your diet & exercise regime so you can stay on target with your goals & in doing so, you will learn how to better balance your meals, up your exercise program, or increase/decrease the amount of calories YOU need.

People forget that everyone is completely different, inside & out. You can’t copy someone’s diet or exercise plan to the T because they are not you.

Ryan Meador, NASM CPT, joined Meador Staffing in January of 2013. He brings a fresh and much needed perspective of health and wellness to the Meador culture. While working full-time at Meador, Ryan is also currently pursuing his degree in Fitness and Human Performance from the University of Clear Lake, to finish up in May. In addition to his personal training certification, Ryan has also obtained his CrossFit Lv1 Trainer certification. He currently coaches at CrossFit Deer Park.

It is time to reach out to Generation Y, also known as Millennials, for your latest open positions. These young workers are the future of American enterprise so it is important to understand how to connect to them. What makes the newest generation different from GenX or even Baby Boomers? It is the technology they have grown up with that are simply a part of their world view and not fun accessories. This means companies need to embrace mobile recruiting. Here are a few tips to help you understand how to tap into this growing professional network.

The Statistics. Many business owners don’t fully understand why mobile applications are that important for GenY. The numbers don’t lie. Recent studies show that 70% of people use tablet devices while watching TV. 47% of commuters use their smart phone in the car, inadvisably. And more and more people are pulling out their smartphones whenever they are waiting; in line or for a friend to arrive. GenY can’t be without the constant stimulation of their smartphones and other devices so why not tap into that by developing a mobile recruiting strategy.

Build relationships. Millennials like when they feel they are friends with a company or product. Take, for instance, the extreme popularity of Twitter. Millions of people follow celebrities on the micro-blogging site and they get instant gratification when a celebrity responds to them personally. It makes them feel connected to their favorite stars in a way the public has never had before. Use social media for your brand to develop relationships with loyal customers who may become loyal employees.

Quick contact and immediate gratification. Generation Y is a group that has not had to wait for anything. When they do, as we have seen, they do it by keeping busy on their smart phones. They are a generation of instant gratification and that isn’t always such a bad thing. This also tends to mean that they work in a similar way. They look at the most efficient way to get something done and they do it. When you present an opportunity on a mobile application they are not only able to respond immediately but they are looking for an answer back.

Video. When a grumpy looking ragdoll cat gets over 5 million views and counting on YouTube it is time to acknowledge the place that video has in our culture. People like video and they like to be able to relate to the information presented. Consider making videos that provide real advice to job seekers such as interviewing skills or how to handle negative situations on the job.

Recruiting through social media has been a hot topic in the human resources industry for a few years now. What is it and how can you use it most effectively? There are many ways to approach the concept of social media recruiting and everyone believes that their ideas are the best. However, here are 8 myths about social recruiting.

Candidates aren’t on social media! Of course the candidates are on social media. Almost everyone is on social media to one degree or another. If they aren’t on professional services like LinkedIn they are probably on Facebook to connect to their friends and family. The key is figuring out where they are and how to target them.

I need to join every network! New networks pop up every day. It may feel like you need to access everything, but you don’t. Pick the ones that best fit your business and focus on creating great content for those sites.

No one uses Google+! Google+ appears to be the black sheep of the social media family but people really are using it. It has almost become a combination of Facebook and LinkedIn which is perfect for many recruiting applications.

You can’t recruit on Pinterest! You can recruit anywhere. Pinterest has been the fastest growing social media outlet for the last year and it continues to attract more users. The key with using Pinterest for recruiting is to think creatively. You may not be able to pin traditional job postings, but what about pinning a photo of something awesome from your company instead?

I don’t need a lot of fans! Actually, you do. Fans are what drive traffic to your site. Continuously add content to your page and run campaigns to get your current fans to recommend it to their friends. And remember, just your own friends and family aren’t enough.

Don’t be personal! Many people want to keep their business life and personal life very separate, but readers like to relate to companies on a less material level. Occasionally add a funny story or personal wish to let readers know there is a real person behind these posts and tweets.

Use all the hashtags! You can’t scroll through twitter without seeing thousands of number signs before just about every other word. Hashtags allow twitter to keep track of words that “trend” on the site. Figure out the best hashtags to use and use them responsibly. #Don’t #write #this #sentence.

Social media is free! It might not cost money but social media needs a pretty significant investment of time to provide any sort of benefit. You can’t just create a Facebook page or a twitter account and expect people to read them. You need to provide fresh and interesting contend frequently.